While visiting his small hometown in Texas, private eye Dan Roman is asked to investigate the recent death of the mild-mannered assistant librarian. His findings connect that death to the also-recent suicide of one of the town's richest citizens, the man who had married Roman's high-school sweetheart. Enduring assorted threats to his life while he suffers the souring of some of his innocent youthful fantasies, Roman does some killing of his own. In the end he solves the mysteries and managesafter five murders and a disappearanceto leave town with the general citizenry unaware of any wrongdoing. This first novel (and the first in a series to feature P.I. Roman) offers a strong sense of place but is marred by over-writing; the action seems soap-opera arbitrary and the characters video-screen flat. November 30